some of the big foreign policy decisions that have come out of this white house, including drawing down the troops in afghanistan, ending the war in iraq, responding to some of the national -- or natural, rather, disasters that have occurred during president obama's tenure, including japan, haiti, and you remember he was pictured in the situation room after the raid on osama bin laden, so this is someone with whom president obama has worked for quite some time. he has a good working relationship with white house staffers, and just a little bit of biographical information, alex. he lives with his wife and three kids in maryland. he is one of 11 kids himself. president obama coming out right now to announce this new appointment, chief of staff dennis mcdonough. >> thank you, kristen. >> thank you. thank you, everybody. please, everybody, have a seat. good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the announcement of one of the worst kept secrets in washington. as president i rely on an extraordinary team of men and women here at the white house every single day, and i rely on my chief of staff